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There is very little chance of Dwight Howard re-signing with the Los Angeles Lakers this summer, according to sources close to the situation.

Whatever you say Broussard. That's not to say he's wrong. I just don't think Dwight has any idea yet, and him saying he's not going to do something is even less reliable than him saying he is going to do something. Besides, maybe he just hasn't seen the billboards yet.

I randomly found the February 10, 2012 episode of The B.S. Report this week and listened to extended speculation about whether Steve Nash would go to the Raptors and whether Dwight Howard would go to the Bulls. The only thing Simmons was SURE about, to the extent of laughing out loud at the naive idea that this was not an open secret that everyone in the know had known for months, was the Deron Williams was going to the Mavs in summer of 2012.

The only thing Simmons was SURE about, to the extent of laughing out loud at the naive idea that this was not an open secret that everyone in the know had known for months, was the Deron Williams was going to the Mavs in summer of 2012.

How was Simmons supposed to know Cuban would skip the FA meeting with Deron to tape Shark Tank?

Ha. I mean it's certainly possible that in his 10th season he's all of a sudden going to develop an array of post moves that merit a bunch of isos, but otherwise he needs to get comfortable with an offense centered around a lot of 3s and some pick and rolls.

My guess is that Howard's team leaked that in the wake of the Doc Rivers signing to pressure the Lakers into getting serious about a S/T with the Clippers. But, if you get past the "Lakerzzz!!!" and "Howard never makes up his mind/wants to be loved" memes, you see that Howard apparently doesn't like D'Antoni, Kobe, Jim Buss, or the system, and that the Lakers' roster has a lot of issues. And while Howard seems to like LA, he has no special connection to the city, like Kareem did, nor a specific desire to play here, like Shaq did. That leaves the money, which is an advantage, but not a huge one, like it was in Wilt's day.

As to the offensive system issue, one reason I backed the MDA hire is that I saw Howard having "fun" and using his roll skills to great advantage with Nash, and Synergy data show that Howard is far more effective doing that than he is in straight post-ups. But he seems to want to be a post-up guy and the MDA hire has not worked out well.

I predict Cleveland trades the top pick. Maybe to Minnesota or Oklahoma City. If its Minnesota, they get Oladipo. If OKC, then its Alex Lem.
I predict Orlando trades out of the #2 pick too.
Washington takes Anthony Bennett
Charlotte - who knows. Maybe Nerlens if he's still there.
Phoenix - Ben McLemore

The only thing Simmons was SURE about, to the extent of laughing out loud at the naive idea that this was not an open secret that everyone in the know had known for months, was the Deron Williams was going to the Mavs in summer of 2012.

I get a good laugh out of his (and others) assuredness of Cuban's lure for Free Agents, despite all evidence to the contrary. I laughed at his statements then and I laugh at others who think Dallas has a chance at Howard. Cuban could probably sign every NBA blogger for a massive discount if he so wished, but superstar NBA players, not so much.

I don't think it happens (KCP is my bet at #9), but if so I will be annoyed. Take Noel if you are at #1. If you muct trade up to take Oladipo don't pay too much (since I don't think he is that much better than the other 2 SG or Otto for that matter.

I predict Cleveland trades the top pick. Maybe to Minnesota or Oklahoma City. If its Minnesota, they get Oladipo. If OKC, then its Alex Lem.
I predict Orlando trades out of the #2 pick too.
Washington takes Anthony Bennett
Charlotte - who knows. Maybe Nerlens if he's still there.
Phoenix - Ben McLemore

Sounds like what every team would prefer, but I don't see the trades unless Cleveland and Orlando are willing to take a deep discount on the usual return for the #1 or #2 overall. I can see Minny/OKC paying the price to get to #5 or so to get their guy, but not #1/2.

I don't think it happens (KCP is my bet at #9), but if so I will be annoyed. Take Noel if you are at #1. If you muct trade up to take Oladipo don't pay too much (since I don't think he is that much better than the other 2 SG or Otto for that matter.

Well said. I'm also pretty confident that staying at nine and taking KCP is the smartest thing to do. I think Oladipo is a better prospect, but not by enough to give up Williams, who showed growth and can still be an asset on the court or in a trade. I also agree that they would have a use for Noel, especially if it would allow them to not pay Pekovic a max contract to match a crazy offer sheet. That kind of leverage would be a huge advantage and would allow them to solve the wing issue in free agency.

The Wolves are reportedly discussing Ridnour for Ekpe Udoh. Does Udoh have any fans around here? An undersized backup center who can't shoot or rebound doesn't sound like much. Not that I expect a lot back for Ridnour.

The thinking is that he's very unlikely to accept a trade to most teams. He was okay with the Clippers, apparently, because of Doc and because he lives there in the summer. Other than that, the word is he wants to retire with the Celtics. Maybe Ainge has received the go ahead to shop him and Pierce together, I don't know.

3 first round picks though. They'd have to be spread out. So let's say it's 2013, 2015, 2017. There's a chance the 2015 and 2017 picks are valuable, since the Nets seem like they're gonna be in salary hell for some time (and won't have any young players to plug in).

Chad Ford saying 2013 pick is not included, so it would probably start next year? That would make some sense for Boston, considering people are much higher on next year's draft prospects (or has Brooklyn already given their 2014 pick away?).

Anyone else feel like Burke might be a little underrated? (Mind you, I tend to underestimate the importance of length in an NBA backcourt.) At minimum, this guy is going to be average as an offensive player - he can shoot, makes plays, is good at the PnR, etc... - and I don't think he'll be torched on D after he gets his bearings.

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If you run Brooklyn, can you make a deal with Boston that makes sense to you where you get Garnett and Pierce but lose Lopez? I mean, the one supposedly being discussed is a slam dunk (which is why Stein doesn't seem to believe it, nor do I) - but - structured right - I think you could convince them to give up on Brook.
Especially if Prokhorov really doesn't want to get hitched.

who probably aren't athletic enough to be point guards
But he is, apart from strength.
When you compare him to lead guards picked in the top 15, he has an average wing span (6-5.5), average vertical leap, average 3/4 sprint, is 0.2 slower on the agility test (whixh I think he makes up for with his facility with the ball), and well short on bench press (3 v. an average of 8.2).

1065. madvillain Posted: May 22, 2013 at 12:20 PM (#4449624)
I want to go on record (just like I went on record about Kyrie Irvin never being more than a average starter, whoops) that Trey Burke will have a 12 year career, make a few all star games, get some 3rd team all NBA consideration some years, and win quite a few playoff games along the way.

No way is he a chris paul or rose level superstar PG, but I see no reasons he won't be a star on the next tier down.

He reminds me of Jameer Nelson, and that's not bad. I'd gladly take that career with a 6-10 pick in this draft. It would probably be a coup for the Hornets to add that to their nucleus (they already have the developmental Dwight, why not get his developmental side kick?)

Similar. Burke is half an inch taller, weighs 10 pounds less because Lawson is way stronger (3 v. 14 in the bench press), same body fat, has 4.75" more wingspan, same vertical, simlar 3/4 sprint times (Lawson wins 3.12 to 3.16), and got significantly outperformed on the agility test (11.2 to 10.98).

Glad you asked, I meant to look up that very comparison (Lawson) last night and forgot.

Burke's athletic markers (apart from bench press and agility) are better than Nelson's and Burke was a much better playmaker in college - particularly when you account for Burke being a sophomore.

I'm not seeing it, but A. that's good news for him, as I'm usually wrong. And B. he seems like a reasonably likable guy, so I won't be rooting against him or anything. Unless he goes to the handful of teams I actively dislike, of course.

I don't like Burke. Jameer Nelson and Ty Lawson are way thicker than Burke. Burke is a flea and will get knocked around. I imagine there's a place for him since he can shoot, but I see him as the last guy in a rotation.

I'll answer your original question, DK. If Jennings can get fringe All Star support and possibly 5 figures a year, no reason Burke can't either. It wouldn't surprise me if Burke ends up being the best player in the draft.

L = Lawson, B = Burke, N = Nelson. I included Nelson's first two years (he was about 3 months younger as a freshman than Lawson or Burke were as sophomores).
Mind you, Burke probably benefits from selection bias (he chose to "sell high", coming out after his second year - the others entered later). But - Lawson and Burke (who definitely is not as quick - and that matters more at the next level, I think) don't look like bad comps, at first glance.

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Burke is a flea and he'll need to simultaneously address that and, ideally, get a hair quicker. That said, he's 20 - you can add strength (though he'll never be strong).

Wild speculation - I wouldn't be shocked to the Sixers ship pick #11 to Cleveland for pick #19 and something additional. The Sixers have supposedly been fixated on Zeller at #11 but rumor has it that he may be gone by then, leaving them to pick from a grab bag of big men (Olynyk, Adams, Nogueira, Plumlee). At least one of them should still be available at #19. Cleveland would love to land Sergey Karasev with their second pick; he'll be gone by #19 but likely on the board at #11.

I agree with DK here; I could see Brooklyn pulling the trigger on that. Lopez is a nice player, but he is neither exciting nor great and with him, BKN lost in the first round to a very banged-up Chicago team. Garnett/Pierce/Williams/Johnson, with a couple of cheap adds looking for the BKN vibe...might be a dangerous squad next year.

Don't get me wrong, I'm pro setting everything on fire. This just isn't a very good way to do it…

Boston would be turning assets (pierce and garnett value) into liabilities (wallace is a disaster. bogans is a minus. toko is useless) and some probably crappy picks
Edit: toko may not be useless, sorry

Hasn't Ainge shown a propensity for rebuilding by lighting everything on fire before, as in when they tanked like hell to go after Durant/Oden?

I think at that time their tanking strategy was not to get rid of all their players, it was just to have a bad team and then try to intentionally lose the last 20 games of the season. Trading away Ricky Davis, Mark Blount, and Raef LaFrentz is not quite comparable to trading Pierce and Garnett.

I can understand Boston's side but for the Wallace inclusion. If they could match salaries without him coming back, that would be an ok way to clear the decks, especially considering that they have very few options that would actually get KG to agree and bring them any sort of asset in return.

Don't get me wrong, I'm pro setting everything on fire. This just isn't a very good way to do it…

Well taking Wallace back is like setting your cap space on fire.

The more deals I hear proposed, the more I think the C's should just play out nexy zear as a Pierce farewell tour. They are going to stink next year one way or the other. After that, they'll have some expirings they can try and turn into assets / cap space, and Garnett might retire, or be more agreeable to a trade that doesn't kneecap the C's.